After nearly killing Naruto at the Valley of the End, Sasuke wonders in the dark, seeking redemption. He is given a chance by a mysterious entity that sends him to the Digital World with a Blue Card, telling him " This is your story..." Update: Every other Saturday

Author's Notes: Sup bitches. Here is another installment to Digital Redemption: Sasuke's Awakening. Before we get to it, however, I'd like to address two things. First, a scene in this chapter was heavily inspired by the song Pieces by Red. When you see 'PR' like this, that's your queue to start playing the song. Last, I'd like to address all the reviews that were made since the last update:

Zero Uchiha: Thanks, I try to blend the flashbacks detailing Sasuke and Gaomon's experiences in the Digital World in with present as best as possible.

Danish78: Thank you for the compliment homie. I was never going to rewrite DR. I only wanted to see how much of an impression Gaomon made on my readers and judging from the feedback I say it's pretty damn good.

ultima-owner: You have no idea, bro.

Guest: Thanks I'll try to update when I can. Hopefully a lot this summer.

Animeguy1101: you never did leave that review you said you would give.

Impatient Reader: You are about to find out how BlackGaogamon going berserk ends… and it's not pretty.

Yami's Devil: They gonna get answers, just not in this chapter haha

Ramemknight: Thank you for the review! I try to make my descriptions of them more beast than they are and I'm glad that I managed to accomplish that.

KnightOfZaku: Thanks for the review. Hopefully this chapter makes you slightly more aware of the status of the bond between Sasuke and Riley.

Chase Network: Homie I'm excited to see more reviews haha!

Funnel Cake: Thanks and here's another chapter for you!

Guest 2: Thanks for the review and you'll start to see the integration after this chapter… or the next one… actually its either of them I'm not sure I'm still working on DR-8 right now so yeah :p

Regin: Here your update!

OneSilverWing9: I'm glad that my story has made you reconsider your stance towards Sasuke and stories like these.

JuMiKu: I know what you mean, seriously I do. I blame Kishimoto and deciding to wing it with Sasuke and the entirety of his development as a character. He makes him out as an emotional schoolboy who is indecisive and that's not him… well it wasn't before.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Digimon. Naruto is owned and licensed by Masashi Kishimoto, Viz Media, TV Tokyo and Aniplex. Digimon is owned and licensed by Toei Animation and Creative Commons. Please support the official releases.

'* * *'

BlackGaogamon released a feral, terrifying roar against the Tamers and their Digimon, the ferocity of which made Sasuke realize that his partner had lost all vestiges of control once again.

"T-This is bad!" Takato said aloud next to Rika and Henry.

BlackGaogamon bore his fangs, saliva dripping out from the sides of his mouth as he took a step towards them. His claws began to glow violet as he picked up the pace, building up momentum with every step he took.

Takato's eyes widened. "Okay this is really, really bad!"

Sasuke's crimson eyes widened. "BlackGaogamon, stop! Don't do it!"

His cry fell on deft ears, he realized. BlackGaogamon couldn't hear his voice. He couldn't hear him, see him or remember any memories of him. Because of his own rashness and the fact that he didn't want to lose his partner or see the other Tamers get killed, Sasuke had resorted to using that power again… and now they were facing a threat worse than Veedramon for it…

…A threat without any vestiges of self-control.

Takato and Henry made no attempts to move, to tell their Digimon to run or anything. BlackGaogamon's bloodlust and killing intent froze the Tamers in their spots from fear, legs trembling and too frozen with fear to heed their common sense which screamed at them to run.

Only Rika, despite her fear, reacted to the threat that BlackGaogamon now posed to her and Renamon. Her hand quickly went for her deck holster, pulling out a card and immediately slid it through her D-Power.

"DIGIMODIFY… Holy Barrier Activate!"

Renamon's body glowed for an instant before she jumped out in front of Terriermon and Guilmon. She lifted her arms up in front of her and not even a second later a large white, almost transparent barrier of light was conjured in front of her and enveloped her, the Digimon and their tamers.

"DOUBLE DARKNESS CLAW!"

BlackGaogamon's attack slammed into the barrier, barely being stopped in time by the Holy Barrier's strength. However BlackGaogamon did not relent and immediately charged the barrier, slamming his glowing claws into the barrier and slashing at it like a wild animal in an effort to breach it.

'I have to stop him before he–'

The moment Sasuke took a step forward, a sudden spike of negative chakra came forth from the Curse Mark; he cringed as he felt it begin to spread on its own, its glowing marks slowly covering his body once again. His eyes narrowed in disbelief. How could this be happening? He had full control over his Curse Mark now that he had gained control of its second tier of power.

'This can't be happening…' Sasuke angrily thought as he brought his hand to his shoulder and squeezed. He fell to one knee as another spike came rushing through his body. 'No…not now!'

He felt a pulse in his hand; his crimson gaze feel to his D-Power, which screen glowed violet, silver-hued electrical currents dancing around it and his hand.

POWER!

FEAST ON THEIR DATA!

AVENGE THEM!

The dark malicious voice spoke loudly in the back of his mind. 'These aren't my thoughts…they're…'

Sasuke felt his body tense even further as he recognized the voice.

'Gaomon's…?'

'* * *'

'* * *'

"BEARMON!"

Gaomon's pained scream rung loudly in Sasuke's mind as he watched Bearmon disintegrate into nothing but particles of data like the Orgemon had from before. Scorched earth and data particles were all that remained of Bearmon.

The data particles floated in the air as the red wave of energy died down before being absorbed by Veedramon who emerged from the shadows with a group of other Digimon behind him.

"What weak data..." Veedramon commented as he finished loading Bearmon's data. "I doubt… I received any strength… from it at all."

Gaomon trembled, his eyes on the brink of shedding tears as he fell to his knees in distraught and shock. "Bearmon… no…"

"Bearmon…" Gaomon repeated the name of his friend again, like it would bring him back. "Bearmon… Bearmon…"

Veedramon snuffed. "Don't worry…you will join him…soon enough… along with… the rest of your… little caravan." Veedramon began to advance on Gaomon.

Why hadn't he done something? Why hadn't he jumped to Bearmon's defense and got him out of the way before Veedramon had struck. It was in his power, Sasuke knew, to do so; even with the aftershock of being thrown around the air and dirt by the dark energy he had released, he still could have reacted in time.

'But I did nothing.'

Sasuke clenched his jaw bitterly. Now Gaomon had truly lost everything. He had lost everything because he had met him; he lost everything he had ever known and everyone from Grizzlymon's caravan because of him…

Because of this stupid, useless power!

"DAMN IT ALL!"

Sasuke stood up and used Shunshin no Jutsu to quickly appear in front of Gaomon's grieving form. His Sharingan was an ablaze crimson glow of anger, hand clenching onto the device in his hand, the device that Gaomon's people had paid their lives to protect.

"You will not touch him, do you hear me?" The Uchiha spoke in a low voice, his tone icy and angry. "If you come near him, then I'll end you."

Gaomon looked up and at Sasuke's back. "Sasuke…?"

Veedramon growled. "Do you… think you can…overcome me?"

"I don't think…" Sasuke quipped before pulling out the purple card from his pocket. "I know." The device pulsated in his hand as the screen flashed once. Sasuke, noticing it, felt the sudden urge to look over to Gaomon who looked at him with pain-stricken eyes. He had seen those emotions in his eyes before… in his own eyes.

A familiar voice whispered to him.

'…Do not be afraid…'

"Gaomon…"

"Yes, Sasuke?"

"You told me once before that you wanted to go to the Real World, right?"

Gaomon titled his head in confusion. "Y-Yeah…"

Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment in contemplation. He brought the device and the card up and then looked at them.

"Gaomon… if you want to go there… then come with me."

Gaomon looked at him with more confusion. "W-What?"

"Once we cross over, there may be a chance that you'll never come back here. But this is it… we can't be afraid! There won't be anything to be afraid of…"

Sasuke turned around fully and offered the hand that held the device. "…If you are willing to trust me."

"I…" Gaomon looked at his hand, the device pulsating even stronger than before. The screen blinked violet every few seconds.

Gaomon closed his eyes, tears falling from them before opening them and revealing a determined gaze. "I trust you, Sasuke!"

'So do not be afraid…'

He reached out and brought his gloved paw over and atop the device.

Sasuke brought the card over to the slide of the device and closed his eyes as the Curse Mark began to spread further across his body.

'And never forget…'

He slid the Purple Card through the device.

The screen flashed brilliantly with a dark violet light before both Gaomon and Sasuke were surrounded by Veedramon's cohorts. An instant later the two and the Digimon around them were then engulfed by a pillar of dark energy which ascended the night sky toward the blue moon above.

'You are the Tamer of the Darkness.'

'* * *'

'* * *'

"Rika you must… get out of here!" Renamon said to her Tamer as she concentrated her energy into maintaining the barrier against BlackGaogamon's ferocious onslaught. "Please… while you still can!"

'She can't be serious?!' Rika thought to herself. The rosette let out an angry click of her tongue. "No way in heck am I going to do that, Renamon! A Tamer never runs from a fight!"

"Rika…"

'Hang on Renamon.' Rika thought, watching as her digimon held up the only layer of defense that they had against the berserk digimon. She had thought that Veedramon was powerful after seeing the way that it had laid out their digimon and left Sasuke's Gaomon curled up in the mud. Yet now, Sasuke had thrown in a new card on the playing field and Digivolved, no… Dark-Digivolved his pet dog into that feral beast which had turned the battle around and brought Veedramon down.

Now without Veedramon present, it appeared that their digimon were next on the list of data he wanted to load. Rika clicked her tongue in anger and desperation. Even though she wanted nothing more than to fight Sasuke and his overgrown mongrel on her own, she knew that with Renamon in her current state, it would be a suicide battle at best. It was a bitter thought which a left an even worst bitter taste in her mouth.

She had two options: she could heed Renamon's advice, if you could even call it advice, and run while she still could, abandon her to the berserk BlackGaogamon….

…Or she could stand her ground and fight alongside her digimon to the very end.

'And I'll drop dead before I ever turn tail and run like a coward.'

"Henry we need to do something here!"

Hearing Gogglehead's voice, Rika turned her head and looked at the other two Tamers who were present beside her. Takato was looking at Henry with a serious look in his eye, even though both he and his friend were still quaking with fear.

"What can we do?" Henry questioned, coming out of his fear-induced trance as he regarded Takato. "You saw what BlackGaogamon did to Veedramon after he Dark-Digivolved! Veedramon threw our digimon around like rag dolls and he got destroyed by BlackGaogamon in seconds!"

"Hey don't stand there and talk about my digimon like she's on your guy's level!" Rika barked at the scared teen.

Henry glared at Rika. "Well it's true nonetheless! We can't face him as we are now there's no way we can beat him! You heard Renamon tell us to run we should do just that before it's too late!"

Rika became livid. She advanced on Henry and gave him a glare so raw with anger that it made even Takato cringe. "I did not just hear you suggest using my digimon as your scapegoat so you can run like a coward!"

"No that's not what I'm saying!" Henry retorted.

"Really because I heard you as clear as day!"

"ENOUGH ALREADY YOU GUYS!"

Takato's yell brought both Tamer's attention to the red-eyed teen, who looked at them both with determination in his gaze.

"Will you guys just knock it off already?! If we don't come up with something fast then we're all gonna become doggie chow here!

BlackGaogamon roared once again before he slammed his glowing claws into the barrier once more.

Rika clicked her tongue. "Yeah well if you want something done then how about you have this coward's bunny rabbit digivolve then!"

… Did those words seriously come out of her mouth? Was she so hyped up that she had suggested that the coward named Henry have his Terriermon jump in to save the day?

'What the heck is wrong with me?'

Takato jumped on the idea, turning to his friend with a smile. "That's it! Henry, all you have to do is have Terriermon digivolve so that we can fight off BlackGaogamon!"

What fight Henry had when he was arguing with Rika had dissipated upon hearing the suggestion. His gaze fell to the muddy gravel beneath him. "I-I can't Takato…"

"What do you mean you can't?"

"You know exactly what I mean!" Henry shouted. "If Terriermon digivolves to his Champion form, then we'll be facing two out-of-control digimon instead of one!"

"Momentai, Henry!"

The three Tamers turned to Terriermon, who walked up to his tamer with a determined look in his eyes. Henry looked at his partner. "Terriermon…?"

"Henry you have to let me digivolve if we're gonna stand a fighting chance at beating BlackGaogamon!" The rabbit digimon voiced out.

Henry shook his head. "I-I can't! If I let you digivolve then–"

BlackGaogamon's ear-piercing roar cut him off. Eyes were drawn to the Viral Beast Digimon as he slammed another Darkness Claw into Renamon's Holy Barrier. A large web of cracks began to spread out on in the barrier as Renamon fell to one knee, her body and arms trembling uncontrollably.

"Rika… I can't… keep it up… much longer."

"Renamon hang on!" Rika yelled out to her digimon, her eyes drawn to her with worry.

"Henry, please!" Terriermon said. "Have faith in me like I do you!"

"I-I…"

BlackGaogamon slammed another Darkness Claw into the Holy Barrier, the cracks growing further in size. The berserk digimon snarled once more before bringing both claws up at once.

"Henry!" Terriermon cried out.

"HENRY, PLEASE!" Takato pleaded.

Henry's eyes snapped opened and he reached into his pocket.

"DOUBLE DARKNESS CLAW!"

An x-shaped violet strike impacted against Renamon's barrier, the final ferocious blow needed to destroy the Tamer's only wall of defense. Renamon flew backwards from the force of the attack, falling on her back. Renamon's eyes widened as she found herself under BlackGaogamon's glowing predator gaze.

"Avenge…" BlackGaogamon growled.

"Renamon!" Rika cried out.

Guilmon ran forward to Renamon's defense. A red ribbon in BlackGaogamon's silver mane shot forth and wrapped itself around Guilmon before he could get close to Renamon.

"BlackGaogamon STOP!" Sasuke yelled across the field, still holding his shoulder as he tried to rein in his Curse Mark.

Henry pulled out the card from his pocket and glanced at it for a split moment, washing away his doubt and fear and brought his D-Power up. He slid the card through. "DIGIMODIFY… Digivolution Activate!"

Hiding in the brush where the rain couldn't hit, Calumon stood by and watched the battle unfold with a frown. The red triangle on his forehead began to glow.

Green, laser pellets flew over Renamon's head toward BlackGaogamon; the berserk digimon snarled as he was hit with the incoming fire, releasing Guilmon from his wrapped hold as he jumped back and out of the line of fire. Gargomon immediately took up position in front of Renamon and Guilmon, continuing to put up the pressure on BlackGaogamon with his onslaught of Gargo Lasers.

"How'd ya like that, ya big bad wolf!"

"He's in control!" Henry said in glee at the sight of his partner keeping the pressure on BlackGaogamon.

Guilmon shook his head a few times before looking at his Tamer, "I'm okay, Takatomon!"

"Oh thank goodness." Takato said, letting out a breath of relief.

Rika ran up to Renamon, burying her worry for her partner to hide her fear. "Renamon, can you still fight?"

Renamon trembled as she got back up on her feet, breathing heavily as she did so. Once she gained certain composure, she nodded. "Yes… Rika."

'Then we're not out of this fight yet.' Rika thought confidently. She grabbed a card from her deck holster and slid it through. "DIGIMODIFY… Hyper Chip Activate!"

With the power coming from the modify card running through her, Renamon's trembling came to an end. With a gleam in her eyes, Renamon took a few steps forward and stood side by side with Gargomon and Guilmon. BlackGaogamon stood across from them, a violet aura surrounding him as he growled menacingly at the trio of digimon.

Sasuke opened his eyes. He could only see a thick layer of fog that surrounded him as he lay on the ground. Groggily, he pushed himself off the ground and shook his head a couple times, regaining his bearings.

'Where… am I?'

He brought up a hand to his forehead and rubbed it before he began to focus in on what was beneath him. His eye brow rose up.

"Cement?"

He slowly began to stand up and looked around himself. He clicked his tongue against his teeth in annoyance to the being unable to see anything in the thick fog. It was then that he slipped his hand in his pocket and felt something there that shouldn't have been. He took hold of it and brought it out, his eyes narrowing at the violet and black device in the palm of his hand.

"What is…!" It was then that the Uchiha's memories came rushing in and he immediately looked around.

"Gaomon!"

Before he moved, the device screen in his hand shot to life and showed a larger screen above the smaller one. What were shown were two of the Digimon that had been with Veedramon, their eyes filled with fear.

The projection changed in color, showing the digimon that he saw on the screen.

"Bakumon? Rookie-level? What is this?"

"AHHH!"

Looking back ahead, Sasuke's eyes widened some as he saw a larger shadow that was as big as Grizzlymon appear, jumping down on the other shadow.

"NO DON'T- AHHH!"

A cruel and rage-filled howl filled the air.

Sasuke ran out to where the compass on the device pointed him to, a sense of worry working its way in his heart as a torrent of questions filled his mind. The fog began to become clearer and soon he came upon a clear area without fog, where he could see where the source of the shouts of fright.

And what he saw made him feel uneasy.

There, standing on all four legs, was a giant black wolf that Sasuke could only guess was a digimon. It had a thick silver mane around its head, with two long red cloths which ends looked like large claws were sticking out of it. On its front paws were crimson boxing gloves with its claws sticking out and white wraps wrapped around its hind legs.

A bead of sweat fell from Sasuke's brow as he deduced who it was. "…Gaomon?"

The giant wolf Digimon tore away at everything he saw. Data particles floated around him as the Digimon destroyed yet another rookie Digimon. The Digimon jumped upon another Digimon present, slamming a gloved paw onto the only Digimon that was left of the group. The wolf Digimon bore its fangs, its lips curling into a sickening grin before it sunk its claws into the Digimon beneath its paw.

"GAOMON STOP!"

A monstrous roar was the only answer Sasuke received before the black-furred Digimon ended the existence of their opponent, the Digimon's data bursting all around them like sakura petals covered in blood. It loaded the data particles floating in the air and before Sasuke knew it, the fog began to disperse. The Uchiha realized that they were standing in the courtyard of a large building with two towers and he could see lights everywhere.

However Sasuke did not have time to enjoy the view or ponder where he was. His attention was focused entirely on Gaomon… or whatever the hell he had become.

He took a cautious step forward, his Sharingan active. "Gaomon… it's me, Sasuke."

Gaomon' turned his head and stared at the Uchiha, golden-yellow eyes glowing. He lowered his head. "Sa…suke…"

"Sa…suke…" 'Gaomon' brought his head up slightly and relaxed his guard.

Suddenly canisters landed at both Sasuke and 'Gaomon' feet. Sasuke looked at the canisters before realizing what they were and brought his hands up to shield his eyes. However, what he originally thought they were was quickly discarded as white smoke began to shoot out from the canisters. A small amount of the smoke filled Sasuke's nostrils before he fell back. He looked back at 'Gaomon', who had released another roar before two more canisters rolled beneath him and released the white smoke.

"Gaomon!" Sasuke called out before taking a step forward to go and help his partner. However, the step felt heavy to him. His body was reacting rather poorly and he felt a sudden drowsiness begin to set in on him.

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes.'Sleeping Gas.'

Soon more canisters were thrown around them and released the sleeping gas. Sasuke tried not to but continued to breathe in the gas, his body reacting in turn as he fell to his knees and began to cough badly.

"Gao...*cough*… mon." He looked back up and saw 'Gaomon' begin to walk rather dizzily before falling to his side with a loud thud. He could hear his partner's low growls; he was probably trying to fight of the drowsiness.

"Now move in and secure the digimon." An authoritative voice suddenly said aloud.

"Sir!"

Sasuke watched with drowsy eyes as men in what looked like hazmat suits began to surround 'Gaomon' with gear on their backs. Two of them brought up pipes which were connected to the gear and released more of the smoke on Gaomon while the rest began to subdue him.

"Gaomon…" Sasuke let out before falling over. He struggled to keep himself awake.

He heard footsteps approach him.

"He's just a kid." One voice said.

"What's he doing in a Digital Field?" another asked.

"I don't... Mr. Yamaki, sir!"

Another set of footsteps approached him, stopping just a foot away from Sasuke.

"What do we have here?" the voice from earlier asked.

"We don't know sir. He was sighted with the Wild One as the field dissipated."

"I see."

The Uchiha struggled to look up. Standing over him was a man in a dark business suit, with blonde hair and light skin. He was wearing what Sasuke could groggily make out as sunglasses which hid his eyes from him. In his hand was an object which made a clicking noise.

"What do we do with him, sir?"

The man looked down at Sasuke for a short moment before turning to something else. "Bring him in for questioning. I want to know why he was inside that Digital Field."

"Yes, sir."

The last thing that Sasuke saw before forced sleep overcame him was the smirk that was on the blonde-haired man's face.

'* * *'

'* * *'

"PYROSPHERE!"

The red energy projectile shot out from Guilmon's mouth and slammed into BlackGaogamon's side. The Champion didn't as much as flinch before whipping around and strike out at the rookie with a backhand of his claw. Renamon jumped over Guilmon's rolling form and curled into a ball in mid-air above BlackGaogamon.

"DIAMON STO–"

Before she could even materialize her attack, Renamon was caught in BlackGaogamon's ribbon. Like a snake constricting around its prey, BlackGaogamon squeezed Renamon's body painfully, eliciting pained gasps from the Fox Digimon.

"Avenge…" BlackGaogamon growled. "Avenge… load data… more power!"

The sound of a crack echoed loudly in the downpour as the ribbon wrapped around Renamon squeezed even more. Renamon let out a pained cry.

Rika's eyes widened. 'Renamon!'

"Gargomon!" Henry called out.

Gargomon took off for BlackGaogamon. "You better let her go!"

BlackGaogamon glanced at the rushing Gargomon. A malicious wolf grin formed on his muzzle and with a tug he swung around and released Renamon, hurling her through the moist air and slamming into Gargomon, both of them falling into the muddy ground. The berserk BlackGaogamon reared his head up and let out another terrifying roar into the thundering skies above.

Sasuke slowly began to stand up, taking quick breaths as he regained his composure. The Curse Mark returned to its dormant state as he used his chakra to suppress its negative effects.

'They won't last much longer.' He surmised, watching as Gargomon stood up and released another barrage of his Gargo Lasers at BlackGaogamon.

'They can't beat him… not like this…'

BlackGaogamon ran around a wooden building, using it as cover for Gargomon's attack. His berserk partner jumped over the building and reared his head up before shouting, "VORTEX HOWL!" The powerful vortex of dark wind shot out of his mouth toward Gargomon. Guilmon shot forward and slammed into Gargomon, sending them both to the ground and away from the powerful burst of dark wind which blew apart the wooden shrine which was behind the gun bunny.

'And… I don't think I can either…'

For the first time in a long while Sasuke was at a complete loss on what he should do. This was the second time that Gaomon had Digivolved and lost control of himself after dark-digivolving, unable to hold back anything as he went into a complete and utter rage. Every fiber of his body told Sasuke to go and stop BlackGaogamon from destroying the Tamers and their digimon, but he couldn't do it. He couldn't. He just… couldn't raise his hand against his partner.

If he did, then he knew that he'd end up killing him, and he just… couldn't do that to him.

Memories of what transpired at the Valley of the End replayed in his mind. Sasuke bitterly brought them down and pushed them into the darker part of his mind. 'I can't… I can't do it.'

He refused to do it again. He refused to use his Chidori to put his Digimon, no his partner down. But… he couldn't just let this continue either. He was Gaomon's Tamer; it was his responsibility to control him in times such as this.

So why couldn't he move his legs and do something?!

'* * *'

'* * *'

"This is getting bad, guys!" Takato said to the other two Tamers.

"Thanks for the clarification, Sherlock!" Rika quipped.

"I thought that Gargomon could even out the odds but it still isn't enough!" Henry thought aloud. "If things continue like this then…"

"Don't even say it, Henry!" Takato yelled. "We can still do this… I think."

"BUNNY PUMMEL!"

Gargomon sent his left gun hand into a jab, aiming for BlackGaogamon's head. A ribbon shot forth and wrapped itself around Gargomon's wrist, stopping the attack cold before yanking the Gun Bunny Digimon's arm up and leaving him open for a counter.

"DARKNESS CLAW!"

A swift violet hued claw was sent into Gargomon's chest, stomping him into the ground. BlackGaogamon pressed his gloved paw into Gargomon's chest, who was sent into a daze by the attack, holding him still as he opened his mouth. A dark ball of wind formed in the Viral Beast Digimon's mouth.

"Load data… more power…"

"Gargomon no!" Henry cried.

"DIGIMODIFY… Speed Activate!" Rika exclaimed after sliding her modify card through her D-Power.

"DIAMOND STORM!"

The sudden barrage of diamond-shaped projectiles that was sent into BlackGaogamon's back caused the Champion to break concentration, letting his attack die in his mouth. Renamon landed on BlackGaogamon's back, a small smirk forming on her lips as she grabbed a handful of BlackGaogamon's silver mane, the other curled into a fist with a faint glow around it. "POWER PAW!"

The jab struck BlackGaogamon in the head, roaring in anger and irritation and got off Gargomon. He shook his head and body, trying to violently shake Renamon off of him. Guilmon came charging in next, biting the Viral Beast Digimon in the back hind leg.

"Way to go Guilmon! Keep it up!" Takato cheered.

Henry brought up his D-Power and a modify card, sliding it through. "DIGIMODIFY… Power Activate!"

Gargomon got back onto his feet. He stared at BlackGaogamon as he tried to shake off Renamon and Guilmon. "Here we go!" He brought up his Gun Hands and took off for BlackGaogamon.

"TAKE THIS! BUNNY–"

BlackGaogamon reared his head up and let out a monstrous roar, a dark violet hue forming around him. Before they realized what had happened, a sudden pulse of dark wind shot off of BlackGaogamon's body, sending all three Digimon flying off and away from him. Gargomon flew back into the wreckage of a wooden building with a loud crash. Guilmon rolled away and slammed into a stone carving, his eyes spinning. Renamon flew back near Guilmon, landing in a puddle of muddy water.

"Oh no Gargomon!"

"Guilmon!"

All the Tamers watched in horror as their Digimon were sent flying, all three not getting back up. BlackGaogamon snarled and turned toward Renamon, and slowly began to advance on her.

Rika's eyes widened as she saw BlackGaogamon 'No… not Renamon!'

"Come on!" Henry said, looking at the cards in his hand trying to pick one from them.

"I-I don't know which one we should use!" Takato said in a panic.

Rika caught something in her peripheral vision. She turned her head and saw one of the knives that Sasuke had used on Veedramon. Her gaze wondered back to BlackGaogamon who continued to advance on Renamon, who had yet to get back on her feet.

She ran and grabbed the knife.

'* * *'

'* * *'

Sasuke watched as BlackGaogamon advanced on Renamon, like a predator readying itself before pouncing on its prey. "BlackGaogamon enough!"

Once again his pleading cry fell on deft ears. Sasuke cursed before looking at his D-Power. He squeezed it tightly in his hand and closed his eyes. 'I… I can't do it!'

"Rika what are you doing?"

Hearing the goggle-wearing teen's voice and the sound of someone running made Sasuke open his eyes. The Uchiha looked up and saw Rika running toward BlackGaogamon with one of his kunai. The rosette stabbed the kunai in BlackGaogamon lower right thigh. BlackGaogamon reared its head up and snarled from the sudden stinging sensation it felt. Rika quickly backed away and trembled as she was caught in BlackGaogamon's feral gaze.

BlackGaogamon turned around and stared down at Rika, his claw glowing faintly.

Sasuke's eyes widened. 'That damn idiot!'

His body flickered.

'* * *'

'* * *'

'What in the heck was I thinking?' Rika pondered, questioning her own sanity at the insane stunt she had just pulled to keep BlackGaogamon away from Renamon. Now she found herself under the predator gaze that was BlackGaogamon's, the Champion staring down on her intently.

She had clearly pissed him off.

"Rika… you must… get away!" Renamon said from where she lied.

"Rika quick get away!" She heard both Henry and Takato say to her.

She was trying, desperately trying, to tell her legs to move, but found that she couldn't. She was trembling almost uncontrollably, a cold fear forming in the pit of her stomach as she realized that her legs and body wouldn't listen to her. BlackGaogamon's terrifying gaze kept her frozen in place, the rain pelting her in its cold blanket as BlackGaogamon raised his right claw up. "Avenge…"

"RIKA!" Renamon screamed.

Rika snapped her eyes shut –

Her eyes opened wide as she felt a hand press against her arm, her feet coming off the ground. The feeling of the cold wind and equally cold rain drops that hit her cheek made her realize that she had been pushed. The fiery rosette turned her head, wanting to know who had pushed her out of the way.

Her violet eyes widened further when they caught a glimpse of a pair of unnatural crimson, tomoe-ridden eyes. For that moment, it felt that time had stopped for her, her mind unable to comprehend what was happening. As those same crimson pools turned away from her to BlackGaogamon, out of all the things that ran through her mind at that instant, only a single thought dominated her mind as she felt a familiar presence appear behind and catch her:

'Why?'

'* * *'

'* * *'

PR

Sasuke was sent flying off the ground upon impact of BlackGaogamon's powerful claw. He landed in a skid, rolling across the wet and muddy gravel until his body came to a stop at the Shrine's Archway. He looked at his left arm clenched his teeth upon the sight of it; the sleeve had been complete torn apart by BlackGaogamon's claws and he could make out three very distinctly deep claw wounds along his forearm that bled badly. At the moment he couldn't feel the pain, which led him to believe that either his adrenaline was dulling out the pain for him or his mind hadn't processed the pain as it should have at that moment.

'Nevermind!' He thought, a pained gasp escaping his lips as he felt the pain inflicted on his arm resonate throughout his whole body. Judging from the way it looked and the pain which resonated from it, he knew it had been badly fractured.

Trying to ignore the pain, Sasuke looked away from his arm and towards Rika, who had been caught by her beaten up Renamon a good few yards away from where he had pushed her aside. The look of sheer surprise she had on her face as she looked at him told him that she hadn't been prepared for his timely intervention again.

'As if it was timely…' Sasuke thought as another wave of pain resonated from his wounded arm.

"Sasuke!" Takato and Henry called out to him from where they stood their Digimon close at their side. "Hey are you okay?!"

'No I'm not losers!'

"Uh Henry?"

"What is it, Gargomon?" Henry asked his digital partner.

"BlackGaogamon has stopped moving over there."

'What?' Using his good arm to arm to support his weight, Sasuke got up to one knee and looked in the direction of his berserk Digimon…

Or at least, he was berserk before he had sent him flying with a wounded arm. BlackGaogamon was inert; his eyes simply stared at Sasuke's kneeling form. They no longer glowed with a golden-yellow malevolence or burning desire for bloodlust as they had before and he did not give off a choking, predator-like killing intent as he did before. It was as if he had become as still as a mountain, save for the rising and falling of his chest which indicated his breathing.

BlackGaogamon lowered his head suddenly, his eyes closing shut as he shook his head. "Angry… hate… no! I hurt… Tamer… I hurt… Sasuke!"

"I hurt Sasuke!"

Jerking his head up suddenly, BlackGaogamon released a powerful pained and saddened howl to the raining skies above. A second later the Champion-level Digimon was enveloped in violet light, miniature twisters of dark wind circling around him.

"Is he…" Takato whispered.

Henry nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. He's…"

'De-Digivolving…'Sasuke finished in his mind as the realization dawned on him. BlackGaogamon's shrouded form began to shrink down in size, his howl soon replaced by loud crying. Once the light and dark wind died down, what remained in BlackGaogamon's place was Gaomon, on his knees crying to the skies. His eyes were shut in a desperate and failing effort to stop his tears from falling with the rain.

Hearing his partner's cries, Sasuke felt a tight squeeze in his chest, a painful squeeze which was far worse than the pain resonating from his potentially fractured arm. The sight of seeing Gaomon breaking down was even worse than hearing it.

Angrily he clenched his teeth once again and closed his eyes. "Gaomon…"

Sasuke slowly got up on his feet, grabbing hold of his wounded arm.

"Sasuke hold up your hurt!" Henry said to the Uchiha, both he and Takato moving to help.

"Stay back!"

Sasuke's crimson glare rooted the other two Tamers in place, both with shocked faces at seeing his crimson gaze with such hostility. Once he was sure they wouldn't go near him, Sasuke looked back to his partner and made his way toward him as quickly as he could, ignoring the screaming protests of his muscles which told him to stay put until he stood over Gaomon. His expression changed into a pained one as he saw his digital partner's state, his eyes clenched shut in a desperate attempt to stop the tears from falling.

"Gaomon…"

He let go of his wounded arm and placed his free hand atop his Gaomon's head, petting the wet fur of his partner's head.

"Forgive me…"

Gaomon's eyes opened and looked into Sasuke's onyx orbs as if he hadn't heard what his Tamer had said to him. Sasuke fell to one knee, going to eye level with his partner and hid his eyes in shame and guilt.

"Please… forgive me."

Tears fell from his eyes once more as Gaomon threw himself into the Uchiha's chest and wrapped his arms around his torso, releasing a quiet, pained cry as he did so.

"I miss them…" Gaomon muttered in his chest. "I miss them so much…"

Sasuke disliked physical contact on such a personal level. He saw it as an emotional weakness, something that others could exploit and use against him. Yet now, even with unwanted eyes prying, he could not bring himself to push his partner away or say anything. After what he had done to him, he had no right to say anything…

"In that cold downpour,With Gaomon quietly crying in my chest,Only a single thought was in my mind...

I had hurt my partner.

I had hurt him in ways...That I could never possibly describe aloud.

I had brought him pain and hatred,Etching those dark emotions... and the desire for vengeance in his heart,With the belief that by doing so I was making him strong.

I could never have been more wrong."

"I made him re-live those memories.Made him re-live that fateful night, that nightmare.And I had broken him into pieces.

And even as he silently gave me his forgiveness.I didn't forgive myself.

And I never will."

The Uchiha closed his eyes and slowly, placed his good arm around his hurt partner and hid his eyes behind his dripping wet bangs. "I know…"He brought Gaomon closer in his chest.

"I'm sorry."

Tears mingled in the rain.

'* * *'

'* * *'

Hypnos Towers

"You have a couple minor fractures running down your ulna and radius. However luckily for you nothing seems to have been severely broken or separated from one another so all I needed to do was put on a protective cast to immobilize it for healing."

"How long do I need it?"

Dr. Shizuo smiled as she finished placing the splints along Sasuke's forearm and grabbed the cast. "Judging at the rate in which your body recovers and if you're any luckier, about two to six weeks at most."

Sasuke let out a small groan before letting out a sharp hiss as the middle-aged woman put on the cast around Sasuke's arm. The short-haired brunette was something you would see in those after night shows, wearing black leggings, a tight black skirt, a red blouse which revealed some cleavage and her white coat. Although Sasuke paid no mind to it, Shizuo Yui was a rather lovely woman who focused on her job as much as she did her looks. And if her diagnosis was right, which he did not doubt since she was under Yamaki's employ, than he'd heal up in no time at all.

Dr. Shizuo let out a soft giggle. "Well maybe next time you'll learn not to play so rough out there in the field."

Sasuke glanced to his partner who sat in a chair in a corner of the large white room. He had obviously cringed at what the doctor had said and did not show his eyes to him at all. He had been this solemn and quiet since they had returned to Hypnos, not saying so much as the occasional 'Yes, Sasuke', which did not sit well with the Uchiha at all. He was not use to this attitude that Gaomon had… But at the same time, he knew that his partner had every right to feel the way he did.

And that only made him feel worse.

"You know I still can't believe Yamaki has a kid like you going out there fighting all of these 'Wild Ones' as he calls 'em." Dr. Shizuo said in a way to create small talk between them. "You'd think he'd leave these kinds of things in the hands of adults."

"But he doesn't," Sasuke answered, looking back at the doctor. Dr. Shizuo met his gaze and shrugged.

"Doesn't mean that its okay, Sasuke-kun."

The sound of the door opening made Sasuke look away from the doctor's hazel eyes to the new addition.

"Sasuke what happened to you!?"

The Uchiha held back an annoyed sigh. He hadn't thought that Riley would come down for a visit. "It's nothing."

"Nothing?" Riley crossed her arms as she approached him and the doctor and gave him a look which obviously said she was displeased with his answer. "Dr. Shizuo is wrapping your left arm in a cast and you look like you just got back from a boxing match with Mike Tyson. 'Nothing' isn't the word that comes to mind."

A brow rose up in curiosity. "Mike Tyson?"

Riley let out another sigh. "He's an American Boxer who… you know what never mind. The point is that you're in pretty bad shape."

Once again, Sasuke glanced at his partner, who did his best to bury his face and hide his eyes from Riley in case the rosette looked his way and passed judgment on him for something that was Sasuke's own fault.

"He has a couple minor fractures on his radius and ulna," Dr. Shizuo informed Riley as she worked on his cast. Sasuke gave the woman an irritated glare which she casually brushed off. "Luckily for him nothing was separated so it should heal pretty quickly."

"Fractures?" Riley repeated aloud before looking at Sasuke. "Did the Wild One do this to you?"

He heard the tightening of gloves in the corner where Gaomon sat.

Sasuke looked away from Riley. "Like I said, it's nothing."

"Fractures are not nothing, Sasuke!" Riley scolded in frustration toward his indifference. "Quit saying that they are. As your Handler, it's my job to make sure that nothing serious or severe happens to you while you're out on the field. Your safety and care are among my primary concerns."

If only she knew, the Uchiha thought. If only she knew what kind of injuries he had sustained before in his own world. If she had, then she wouldn't be there making such a fuss over something as small as minor fractured bones which would mend soon enough. Fractures were nothing new to him; he had had worse when he was mastering the Chidori under Kakashi's watchful eyes… well eye. Physical pain was something he was accustomed to.

"Why are you here?" Sasuke questioned the Hypnos operator. The rosette closed her eyes for a short moment, taking a small breath and regained her composure of professionalism before speaking again.

"Yamaki sent me down to see what the damage was to you and that if you were well enough to tell you to go see him in his office for de-briefing about the Wild One."

"Hn." Sasuke responded. He probably wanted to talk to him about what Riley had brought up earlier this morning. Well that was too bad; whatever it was that Yamaki wanted to say to him could wait. All he wanted to do at that moment was get Gaomon and himself away from everyone.

"And…"

Sasuke looked up and saw that the rosette's calm face had changed some, to one of concern. She took a couple steps closer to him. "I also came because I was worried about you."

"I'll be fine." Sasuke said casually. "I already told you that this was nothing."

The rosette did not relent. "Sasuke quit trying to play the tough guy and pass it off as nothing. Regardless of how strong you are, you're still just a kid. This injury could have been much worse than it is now. You need to be more careful out there."

Sasuke did not respond to Riley at all. He lowered his head, his bangs hiding his eyes which spoke wonders of the anger and irritation that was building towards the woman. She was his Handler, yes, but the way she was speaking to him, the tone she used in her voice, was on a level of familiarity that he did not approve of. She was speaking to him like…

'Sasuke, you need to do your homework!'

'Sasuke, pick up after yourself! This house isn't your personal playground!'

'Sasuke, I will always be there for you.'

His good hand curled into a tight fist.

"Sasuke are you listening?" Riley asked the rosette unaware of how he was feeling at the moment. Letting out a sigh, she reached out for the Uchiha.

"Listen Sasuke I'm just –"

Sasuke slapped Riley's hand away from him with his good hand, the action shocking everyone in the room. Dr. Shizuo watched with wide eyes, stopping what she was doing with Sasuke's cast and looked to Riley who had a surprised expression on his face. She had not been expecting him to react in such a way.

"Sasuke… why did you –

"Don't."

Sasuke looked up, his bangs parting to reveal his crimson Sharingan. The tomoes spun slowly at Riley, who was immediately on edge at the sight of the Uchiha's dark angry gaze. "Don't get familiar with me. Don't stand there and scold me like I'm a child. And don't EVER speak to me like you're my mother… because you're not!"

A thick silence filled the room after the Uchiha outburst. Riley looked stunned, as did both Dr. Shizuo and Gaomon. Sasuke simply turned away from the rosette and looked to the doctor. "Are you done?"

The doctor blinked, coming out of her stunned trance and looked at him for a brief moment before nodding. "Y-Yeah."

"Good."

Jumping out of his seat on the table, Sasuke walked past the still stunned Riley and grabbed his S.R.T jacket's collar that hung off an empty chair next to the door. He turned the knob and slung his jacket it over his shoulder looking over his shoulder to his partner. "Gaomon, let's go."

"R-Right, Sasuke." Gaomon acknowledged before jumping out of his seat and moving toward his Tamer's side. The digimon threw Riley an apologetic glance before turning his attention back to his Tamer. Sasuke exited the Infirmary, not sparing Riley or Dr. Shizuo a second glance.

'* * *'

'* * *'

Standing in the elevator that took them to the floor where their apartment was, Gaomon kept his head down, eyes glued to the black and white tiles of the elevator floor. His mind was repeatedly hammered by a multitude of thoughts, but one continued to hammer down the hardest.

'I hurt Sasuke.'

He glanced over to his Tamer, or more accurately his arm which hung off a sling, before looking back down just as quickly. After he had de-digivolved and had finished crying Sasuke had gotten him away from the other Tamers and their Digimon before they could hound them with questions or possibly attack him – he meant Rika and her Renamon – and back to Hypnos. As they had left Gaomon distinctly remembered the aftermath of the carnage that he had wrought, with much of the shrine complex torn apart…

And the other Tamer's Digimon… had been no worse for wear.

His gloved paws curled up and tightened as he remembered the state in which Gargomon, Renamon and Guilmon had been in and how the sight of them made Gaomon sick, like he had eaten something rancid from a garbage can. He had done that; he had wrecked them and he could not even remember doing it. All he could remember was seeing images of Bearmon and Grizzlymon, of the caravan in flames, of Veedramon and his crew of digigrunts… and a red haze.

But all of that didn't even compare to the horrible feeling he still had after he had managed to see himself strike at Sasuke and see the injury which he had left him.

'I hurt Sasuke…'

What made it feel worse was the fact that after all of that, after everything he had done, his Tamer had been the one to ask him for forgiveness. Forgive him for what? For making him Dark-Digivolve? For giving him the power needed to destroy Veedramon and get his vengeance? For the crazed madness that had overcome him afterwards? For the carnage he had wrought and the injury he had caused Sasuke?

If anything he should be the one to ask for forgiveness.

Sasuke had done nothing wrong.

It had all been him.

So why had he apologized?!

As the elevator stopped and the door came open, a single conclusive thought came to Gaomon's mind. 'I don't deserve to be Sasuke's partner.'

Sasuke was the first to exit the elevator, not saying so much as a word. Gaomon sluggishly followed, his eyes wandering between the uninteresting floor and the sling which held his Tamer's arm. They eventually stopped at the apartment door and Sasuke put his jacket on his slung arm before slipping his hand into his pocket and pulled out his key card. He slid it through the automatic and opened the door.

"Come on." Sasuke said at last. Gaomon looked up at his Tamer and almost as quickly cringed underneath Sasuke's stoic gaze before he went inside.

Immediately upon entering the apartment, an aroma filled Gaomon's nostrils. It was a good scent, a familiar one which made his stomach quietly growl. He took a few whiffs of the air before he went further inside. He stopped dead in his tracks as he entered the main room, eyes wide in surprise as he saw where the aroma was originating from.

There, sitting on the table from which he and Sasuke ate at from time to time, was a large plate of dango dumplings. Beside it were a couple of cups which smelled of jade green tea, and a large bag of Funyuns, along with an empty white bag with the logo of his favorite dango stand in Shinjuku.

"Ichiaki Dango…" Gaomon thought aloud. He turned on his heel and saw Sasuke approach him without his jacket. He had probably already hung it back up. "Sasuke… what is all this?"

"Yeah I can see that but…" Gaomon didn't actually think that his Tamer would go out of his way to get him his dumpling of his own free will. How long had it been sitting here?

A thought came to his mind. "Wait… was the reason why you were late earlier… was because of this?"

"Hn." Sasuke walked past him to the table and picked up a cup of jade tea. "Cold… this stuff's no good now."

'Why…'

"Guess we'll just have to make some tea ourselves."

'Why…'

Sasuke turned to head for the sink.

"Why…"

His Tamer stopped and turned his head slightly, looking straight toward him.

"I don't get it…" Gaomon continued. "Why aren't you angry at me? Why aren't you yelling or shouting or something at me?"

Sasuke stood still, simply staring at Gaomon with an unreadable expression. "Gaomon... what are you-"

"I FAILED YOU!" Gaomon yelled out, his voice filled with both anger and shame. Anger toward Sasuke for not being angry at him, for saying nothing to him, and shame toward himself. "I failed as your partner and went out of control! I hurt those Tamer's digimon, I tried to hurt that red head and I... and I…" He clenched his eyes shut, angry tears escaping and falling. "I hurt you Sasuke! I hurt you and now your arm is stuck in that stupid cast because of me! You won't be able to train or help me fight Wild Ones! Aren't you angry or anything?! What are you thinking?! Why haven't you scolded me or say anything?! Why won't you say that I don't deserve to be your partner?!"

As Gaomon finished his self-punishing rant, Sasuke remained quiet. His Tamer simply looked at him in silence for a moment which felt like an unbearable hour of torture. His silence only infuriated the Dog Digimon even more.

Before he could shout again at his Tamer, Sasuke turned around completely toward him. He placed his cup down on the table and walked around it, stopping just a foot away from Gaomon. The digimon watched as Sasuke brought his good hand up and for a moment he thought that he was finally going to receive some kind of punishment.

He closed his eyes.

He felt a light tap of two fingers in the center of his brow. Slowly, Gaomon opened his eyes and saw his kneeling in front of him, his eyes and expression no longer stoic and neutral. Instead he saw sadness and guilt in his eyes which were completely opposite of the small smirk which now adorned his face.

Sasuke brought his hand back. "Quit being such a dobe."

"What…" Gaomon asked confused by his Tamer's action and words.

"You're not the one who failed… it was me. I was the one who brought that darkness on you… who made you dark-digivolve even though I knew you couldn't control yourself. I resorted to using that because if I didn't then I would have lost you… and because I wanted you to get your revenge."

"Gaomon… I failed you as your Tamer. I made you relive that night and made you go into a berserk rage. Everything that's happened… it's because of me and because I failed to realize what you saw and felt when you dark-digivolved. So don't you dare say that you don't deserve to be my partner… because you're wrong. I'm your Tamer, it's my job to make sure you don't go crazy like you did and I didn't. I'm the one who failed you…"

Sasuke moved his hand on Gaomon's head and his smirk grew slightly. "So next time, don't ever think you're at fault when this happens because as your Tamer, I'll be sure that you master dark-digivolution and stay in control."

For the first time since they had arrived in the Real World, Gaomon felt his darker feelings in his heart begin to be pushed away. Slowly, they were replaced by something else, something he hadn't felt in a long while…

Happiness.

With teary eyes, Gaomon gave Sasuke his trademark wolf-grin. "And I'll make sure that you don't do such a crappy job at being a Tamer next time!"

Standing back up, Sasuke took his hand off of Gaomon's head. "Shut up and eat your dango dobe."

"Will you quit calling me that!"

He grabbed a stick of dango and happily took a bite. His eyes shot open as he swallowed the dumplings and turned his head toward his Tamer who took a seat on the other end of the table.

"Sasuke?"

"What is it dobe?"

"These aren't spicy."

There was a moment of silence.

"Hn."

'* * *'

'* * *'

Sasuke sat in a white room with a large open view mirror on the wall to his right. He had awoken here, with his hands cuffed to each other behind him. He had been in here since he had woken up, cuffed and sitting on the hard metal chair. He had no idea where he was once again and to top it all off, Gaomon was nowhere to be seen.

When he had tried to move, he couldn't. The cuffs had kept him tied down to the chair.

The door opened. Sasuke looked up and saw a blonde man in a black business suit standing at the entrance, a file in one hand and a metallic object in the other. Standing behind him was a red-haired woman with a mature look about her. She was beautiful in her own right but had serious eyes that told him wonders.

They were here for answers.

'And so am I.'

The door closed behind the man who moved toward the table. "Well well, it seems that you've finally woken up from your nap. Tell me, did you enjoy it?"

Sasuke didn't answer. The blonde haired man snapped open the object and Sasuke realized it was a lighter before it was snapped shut again. The man took the seat on the opposite end of the able and smirked.

"Silent type, huh? Well we can't have that." He snapped his lighter open again. "My name is Mitsuo Yamaki. The woman standing beside me is Riley. We have a few questions that we'd like answers to."

"Too bad." Sasuke said. "I got nothing to say."

"Oh really?" Yamaki said, gesturing to the woman who pulled out a photograph from the file she had on her and placed it on the table. "Because your little pet dog had plenty to say."

Sasuke's eyes looked to the picture. His eyes widened when he saw Gaomon's face. His eyes went back to Yamaki and glared.

"Where is Gaomon?!"

"So the Wild One was telling the truth after all…" Yamaki said, flipping his lighter open again. "Don't worry, he's safe… For now. However that may change depending on your answers."

Sasuke growled, biting back his anger. "If you try to do anything to him, I'll kill you."

"Bold statement coming from a kid," Yamaki said before turning to Riley. The rosette nodded and handed the file over to Yamaki, who opened it up. "Do you know what this is? This is your file. All the information we could collect on you since we took you into custody… Uchiha Sasuke."

Yamaki placed the file down on the table and pushed it over to him. Sasuke glanced down at it; there was nothing in it.

Yamaki snapped his lighter open again. "My operators, the best hackers in the world, could not find a single piece of information on you. No birth place, no police records, not even a date of birth which could at least confirm your existence. So for all intents and purposes, you do not exist."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes down onto Yamaki. "And I should care about this why?"

Yamaki slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the device that Sasuke had carried from earlier. Sasuke made no effort to show his interest that the man had something that did not belong to him.

"Because for whatever reason you were found inside the Digital Field that emerged just outside my building, with this and that Wild One. My hackers couldn't find a trace of information on you and for all intents and purposes you don't exist in our world."

Yamaki flipped his lighter closed.

"I want information… and if you cooperate, then I think we can help each other.

"Sure." Sasuke said. "I'll cooperate..."

Yamaki took off his shades and smirked -

That smirk quickly died as he felt something akin to a knife just an inch away from his jugular. A bead of nervous sweat formed on his brow as he turned his head slightly and saw that the boy was now behind him... and Riley?

"Sir!" Riley gasped out.

"I'll cooperate..." Sasuke said, getting up form his seat, his hand cuffs falling deftly to the ground. His crimson eyes were gazing at both Yamaki and Riley with intense anger. "Once you tell me where Gaomon is. Now."

To be continued...

Author's Note: I bet ya'll though I was done with this story right? WRONG! I've just been focused on Transcending Bonds and my life but I haven't forgotten this. Hell naw to be honest I've been spending the last two months writing this one chapter and it has been something else.

Y'know… I almost felt like scraping this chapter altogether. When I first started it, I was extremely disappointed with how it was going and how it turned out. But after a few months of additional editing and re-writing, as well as receiving excellent beta-editing, I can say that I am fucking satisfied with it. Oh and before you ask, no Sasuke did not cast the clone jutsu... but he did cast a visual genjutsu on them. A minor one since these two are obviously not ninja, leaving their senses open to the Sharingan's visual illusions. And in case you ask how he escaped, remember WAY back when Naruto first aired and Sasuke explained how he escaped from Naruto's bindings? Well there you go.

Now that I have written and updated DR, I have only one favor to ask you all: leave a review and tell me how you liked it, what scenes you liked, and what you think I could improve on. Seeing all the favorites, follows and reviews which you guys have been leaving led me to write something like this.

It only gets better from here.

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.